Madang Governor, Peter Yama, is demanding a permanent closure of the Ramu Nickel Mine based on the pollution from the recent spill and the potential damage in future.
His says he is not convinced that the yesterday’s order by the Mineral Recourse Authority (MRA) to close the mine will serve the long term concerns.
“MRA is making the decision based on the company’s non-compliance of mining regulations. What about the environment?” he said.
The agency asked with environmental protection, Conservation Environment and Protection Authority (CEPA), has been rather slow to act. Governor Yama has accused them of being lenient with the Chinese miner and has further called for the resignation of officers handling the Basamuk spill case.
“They have misled the minister and Prime Minister. The senior officers should resign or be charged.”
Citing a previous court over from 2011, he said CEPA has not complied with orders to have the mining company held accountable by producing monitoring reports for the Madang provincial government every three months.
“CEPA did not fail only once. They failed 76 times! Even in my term as governor, they have not furnished one report as ordered by the court.”
Governor Yama has also called for other PNG scientists to join a team of foreign scientists from Germany, Switzerland and Israel who will arrive on the 31st to conduct further studies on the environmental damage.
By Scott Waide, EMTV News, Lae
